Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie is giving $1 million to help LGBT kids in schools
Singer-songwriter Brendon Urie (Christopher Polk/Getty for NARAS)
Panic! at the Disco singer Brendon Urie is donating a million dollars to help LGBT kids.
The long-serving emo pop frontman is donating to the GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), which works to create “safe and inclusive environments for students in schools” across America.
The charity, which supports LGBT kids in schools across the US, revealed that the money will support efforts to ensure that Gay-Straight Alliance clubs exist in every high school across America.
GLSEN confirmed: “Brendon Urie has pledged a one million dollar gift to GLSEN to provide resources, training, and support to students working to create student-led GSA clubs in their K-12 schools.”
Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco performs onstage during the iHeartRadio Album Release Party with Panic! At The Disco at the iHeartRadio Theater on June 21, 2018 in Burbank, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty for iHeartMedia)
It comes after the 31-year-old Urie set up his own foundation, the Highest Hopes Foundation., which will “advocate support for human rights for all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
In a statement, Urie said: “For years my fans have inspired me with their determination and creativity as they have created a safe and inclusive community.
“I felt the time had come for me to join them boldly, to bring that energy and power to bear on the huge challenges facing our whole society.
“Launching the Highest Hopes Foundation with GLSEN as our first cause feels natural to the DNA of P!ATD, I am beyond excited to see what we can do together. Some of the most inspiring leaders out there right now have come from GSAs.
“Working firsthand with GLSEN, student leaders everywhere, and all my fans, I want to make sure that every one of our future leaders out there has the support they need to form their own GSA and begin their work to make a better world.”
Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco (Ethan Miller/Getty)
Eliza Byard, GLSEN Executive Director said: “GSAs and their leaders are out there every day doing the work and leading the way.
“We need their energy now more than ever. Over the past three decades, GLSEN has worked alongside them and seen the GSA movement grow to reach half of the middle and high schools in the United States.
“With Brendon’s partnership and this transformative gift, we will make sure that students have the support they need to reach every single school.”
Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco attends the 2016 Daytime Village at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the Las Vegas Village on September 24, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (David Becker/Getty for iHeartMedia)
The band – of which Urie is currently the only permanent member – has spoken out for LGBT equality before.
A viral Twitter post earlier this year had joked: “Stop pretending like it’s at ALL hard to use to ‘they/them’ pronouns when we’ve all agreed to call Brendon Urie ‘Panic! at the Disco’ even though we know it’s just him.”
Urie responded: “This tweet is Panic! At The Disco approved ”
